South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 130,000 Saturday, but the daily number of deaths reached a three-month high amid the continued virus wave driven by a highly contagious omicron subvariant.

The country added 129,411 new COVID-19 infections, including 492 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 22,129,387, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

It marked a decline from the previous day's 138,812 new cases but was still about 4 percent larger than a week earlier when 124,555 infections were reported.

The number 129,411 was the highest for Saturdays since April 9, when 185,532 new infections were logged.

The country reported 84 COVID-19 deaths Saturday, the highest level since the number came in at 136 on April 29.

The total death toll came to 25,980, and the fatality rate stood at 0.12 percent, the KDCA said.

South Korea has seen another virus wave since July, driven by the omicron subvariant BA.5 and the government's lifting of virus curbs.

"The death toll is expected to continue to rise as new infections keep increasing," health ministry official Sohn Young-rae said, adding the government will work to better protect the high-risk groups. (Yonhap)